ER visits involving the stimulants more than doubled in five years, moving from 13,379 in 2005 to 31,244 in 2010 nationwide, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report. By far the greatest jump was in those aged 18 to 25, who saw ER visits related to the stimulants go from 2,131 to 8,148. Visits more than tripled in the next age group, 26 to 34.

Many of those visits are from abuse, or non-medical use of the stimulants. This would mean somebody using a stimulant they weren’t prescribed to do something the medication was not intended for. While the stimulants can help young people focus, they are not meant to be a “stay up all night for finals” drug. Adderall is one of the common brands associated with the ADHD drugs[2].

Half of the ER visits from the stimulants came from non-medical use of the drugs.

We’ll be seeking comments from local ER doctors, which we’ll add later to this blog.